It’s well known that Varela has upped its grade from a ‘C’ to a ‘B,’ but not all students can claim to know exactly what that means.

Many staff and teachers have been seen wearing shirts that have written upon them the words “Let it ‘B’ known that Varela is going for the ‘A.’”

The grading depends very heavily on the FCAT. An ‘C’ school, according to the Department of Education’s guide to calculating a school’s grade, is one in which 320 points or more are earned, adequate progress of the lowest student scores in reading within two years is demonstrated, and at least 90% of eligible students are tested.

Schools earn one point for every percent of students that earns a three, four, or five in the reading or math portions of the FCAT, each percent of students scoring higher than a 3.5 in the writing portion, and each percent of students who show a learning gain (meaning a greater score or a preservation of a high score).

Varela, as opposed to earning 364 points like last year, has now risen to 392 points, which is only 18 points away from an ‘A.’ Eighty-five of the 317 schools in Miami-Dade County raised their grade last school year, and 46% of the schools have earned an A or B for three consecutive years.

Less than half of the schools which were receiving assistance from Superintendent Rudolph Crew’s School Improvement Zone plan, however, actually managed to raise their grades last year.

Probably the main point of controversy among the actions taken towards students in need of improvement is the new mandate implemented by the state, which requires all students from the sixth through the twelfth grades who scored a one or two on the FCAT to take an intensive reading class in place of one of their electives.

Here at Varela, about 2,700 students have been made to take this reading course.

According to an article in the Orlando Sentinel, estimates of how many students statewide have to take the class are around 600,000.

“This course,” reads the 10th grade intensive reading syllabus for 2005-2006, “is intended to increase student reading ability, fluency, and vocabulary. All students will be able to apply the skills learned in this course on the FCAT and other standardized tests. The teacher intends to … teach students how to analyze text and evaluate all sources of literary genre.”

According to Ms. Cabrera, the 10th grade department chair for reading, the class is meant to fill in the hole left in a student’s daily routine, where they now have television and music to entertain them rather than reading.

Rather than waiting for them to remedy their flaws in reading ability, assuming they will at all, they are simply given this class without question, to get it out of the way.

“You can try [to get out of this class],” said Ms. Grant on the first morning of school when discussing schedule changes, “but you won’t.”